Tagged Questions

Semiconductor physics is the branch of solid state physics that focuses on specific properties of semiconductors. It studies dynamics of different perturbations (mainly electrons and holes) in the semiconductor crystal and the ways to harness it in electrical circuits.

Suppose we have a p-type material and metal contacts deposited taking the work function of a metal and semiconductor into account. At room temperature (depending on the doping level) they might now ...

Are there any books or articles that describe models for transport in a metal/semiconductor junction where the thickness of the semiconductor is less than the thickness of the depletion/accumulation ...

Organic semiconductors differ from inorganic semiconductors. In organic semiconductors the molecules are held together by weak van der Waals interactions and in inorganic semiconductors by covalent ...

I am looking for both a mathematical and a physical reason for energy band gap in metals. For Physical reason, I was told that at each reciprocal lattice, you could have Bragg scattering, that would ...

In an extrinsic semiconductor the electric potential is:
$$\phi = \frac{1}{q}(E_{\mathrm{F}} - E_{\mathrm{Fi}})$$
where $E_{\mathrm{F}}$ is the Fermi energy, $E_{\mathrm{Fi}}$ is the intrinsic Fermi ...

The Hall effect includes the transverse (to the flow of current) electric field set up by the charges which accumulate on the edges, to counter the magnetic component of the Lorentz force acting on ...

Please help me understand the following (general) statement, referring to electrons in a full valence band of an n-type semiconductor:
"An electron filling up the last empty state in the valence band ...

This is just a curiosity question but I remember when 90nm seemed insane so I was wondering what the theoretical limit would be on process size before we couldn't go any smaller. Wiki tells me that ...

I am a bit confused about solid state physics of organic materials because as I know the workfunction changes with the doping of a material but the Fermi level is constant with doping. So depend on ...

I'm trying to model carrier action in intrinsic silicon under an applied electric field in one dimension.
Taking $n$ and $p$ to be the concentrations of electrons and holes respectively, I got that
...

Diffusion capacitance often comes up in transistor design. It is one of the two main capacitances you see, the other being the depletion layer capacitance. The depletion layer capacitance (per unit ...

I've conducted an experiment to look at the electronic characteristics of a diode. This was done using a series diode, resistor ($R$) and signal generator. The signal generator was made to supply a ...

Considering a PN junction with a difference in fermi level between the P and N type regions given by eV0. Does this V0 correspond to the potential at which the diode "switches on"? My intuition tells ...

From a math perspective, it seems obvious that the electric field (or voltage which ever) of a bit in a computer, when its in a stable 0, or 1 state, must have a singularity, a set of points where the ...

I know that the band gap is related to conductivity. What I'm wondering is what it is like for an experimentalist who is trying to figure out what an unknown material, a black box, is doing. The only ...

Suppose we have an interface of silicon/silicondioxide. If we shine light on the top surface electron-hole pairs are generated in silicon. since there is always a field directing from surface to bulk ...

Vacancy Generation/Annihilation Time, Recombination Time and Relaxation Time ($\tau$) are all synonymously used in atomic physics literatures. They're defined as the time that it takes for vacancies ...

Usually one is led to think of an electron moving from the valence band to the conduction band as an electron leaving the atom it is bound to in the lattice, and becoming free to move, while leaving ...

I have an intrinsic silicon layer sandwiched in between two aluminum contacts. I'm trying to figure out the band diagram of the entire device when a positive bias (much larger than the work function ...

Unlike traditional inorganic diodes, organic semiconducting materials hold few thermally exited free carriers under room temperature, so the reverse current should be small if pinholes of the films is ...

I would like to pick the correct doping of silicon to get 1 Mohm cm resistivity at liquid helium temperature of 4.2 K. The metal insulator transition implies that I need a very accurate doping. Are ...

I can't find the precise definition of what is the orientation of a GaAs lattice. Being the superposition of two fcc lattices (one of Ga, the other of As), I would think that it is the direction of ...

So, the Fermi level in crystals is pretty easy to understand. Been using it and talking about it in terms of the highest occupied level forever. However, I'm now reading about disordered systems. A ...

I'm trying to use fluctuation dissipation theorem to describe spontaneous photon emission process by electron-hole recombination in semiconductor material.
I notice that all the references using such ...

According to my textbook, when a p and n type semiconductor combine the following happens:
Electrons from the n type semiconductor will migrate into the p-type semiconductor at the junction (so the ...